House report: Halfway through the sessionWe are now over the halfway mark for this session and we had a late night in the House of Representatives. After weeks of financial review and committee deliberation, the House signed off on a historic $375 million reduction to the state’s operating budget. The operating budget funds state agencies, facilities, and service programs, such as fisheries management, education and day-to-day ferry operations. Alaska’s ...

Kodiak Island Births: March 17Jonas Calibo Marquez was born at 5:11 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, 2015, to Charlyns Calibo and Ferdinand Marquez. He weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces and measured 19.5 inches long. His parents are originally from the Philippines and now live in Kodiak. His mother and father both work at Best Western Kodiak Inn. Also welcoming him to the family are Ferlene Marquez, Ruzzel Marquez and Joshua Marquez. Grandparents are Rosal...

Arboleda claims first Pro-Build bowling titleAlvin Arboleda gave his cheering section plenty of chances to celebrate at the Spenard Builders Supply Pro-Build Championship Tournament. Behind a string of strikes, Arboleda claimed his first Pro-Build bowling title by easily defeating Steve Maly with a handicap score of 236-173, Sunday at Tropic Lanes. With each strike — he had seven of them in the finals — Jeff Jimenez and Bryan Larson erupted with cheers and h...

Alumni update: Nelson finishes frosh seasonJerica Nelson’s freshman season at the University of Alaska Anchorage came to a surprising end Friday in the opening round of the NCAA Division II West Regional. The top-ranked UAA women’s basketball team was stunned by Point Loma in a 64-63 loss at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage. UAA (29-2) trailed by 19 points in the first half and rallied to take a 63-62 lead with 9.1 seconds left. Point Loma, though, ...

Thomet misses 1st on the nodKodiak High School and Alaska running stand-out Levi Thomet finished a mere tenth of a second behing the winner of the two-mile competition at the New Balance National High School Championships, Sunday in New York City. Thomet’s time of 8 minutes, 48.22 seconds earned him second place behind Drew Hunter of Virgina. “The guy just kind of leaned better,” KHS track cross country coach Marcus Dunbar said. He said Thom...

Budget remains biggest Capitol topicHello again from Juneau. With a little over a month away from the legislature’s scheduled adjournment on Sunday, April 19, the Capitol is a busy place as Senate and House committees work through bills, resolutions and confirmation hearings for the governor’s appointees to the state’s boards and commissions. The biggest topic on the table remains the budget. Early Friday, March 13, the House approved its version of...

Art teacher creates ornament for Capitol treeA local art teacher was selected to create an ornament that will hang on the Capitol Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C., next year. Kodiak High School art instructor Bonnie Dillard was one of 10 Alaskan artists chosen for the project. Children and adults around the state will be creating the ornaments for the tree, which will be harvested from Chugach National Forest. Each year, a tree is harvested from a forest s...

Kodiak Area Native Association seeks VPSOsAs the first three village public safety officers prepare to receive firearms training at a training academy in Sitka, the Kodiak Area Native Association has also started advertising for VPSOs to serve Larsen Bay, Old Harbor and Ouzinkie. Bethel radio station KYUK reported VPSOs from Hooper Bay and Noatak, as well as a roving VPSO based in Fairbanks, are advancing to the firearms training. The training follows a b...

Assembly, P&Z talk future of land codeThe Kodiak Island Borough Assembly and Planning and Zoning Commission discussed the future of controversial proposed updates to three sections of borough land code. P&Z didn’t get a chance to talk about future plans before the joint work session due to failing to have a quorum at a work session on Wednesday. The assembly decided to give P&Z commissioners some time to figure out their plans. “Let’s let P&Z have a m...

What hunters need to know about bear densSay “bear den” and for many, the cartoonish image of a cave comes to mind, the entrance littered with bones. Boyd Porter and his colleagues spent the past four years studying black bear dens on Prince of Wales Island in southern Southeast Alaska, and for him the word that comes to mind is “nest.” “They’re nesters, although people wouldn’t necessarily put them on a list of nesting animals in Alaska,” said Porter, a...